What happens in Vegas is all right here for you to read

Joan at Hoover Dam

The older we get the more we appreciate the great friends that we have. This past few days was all about connecting with some great friends.

Over the years of traveling it has always been fun to connect with friends while we are on the road. There is something special and different about seeing folks you love and respect out of the context that you usually see them.

On Sunday morning we left Kingman, Arizona and headed north to finish the short trip to Las Vegas.

The scenery was beautiful and we made a quick stop at Hoover Dam so Joan could use the restrooms and so I could get a quick photo of the Hoover Dam up close.

Obvious

Predictably the security to visit the dam is much greater than I remember when I was a boy. There is a checkpoint on the Nevada side of the dam where armed guards look in the windows of your car from both the driver and passenger side. We were quickly cleared and the restrooms were just about 150-feet beyond the checkpoint so I pulled in and Joan jumped out of the Tahoe to use the facilities.

No sooner had she closed the restroom door when a police car with red lights spinning followed a van into the same parking area, stopped and approached the van. Another police car, also with lights going, rolled in behind my Tahoe to back up the other officer on the stop.

Joan liked the leaning towers

I thought about jumping out and talking a photo, but quickly thought better of it. When Joan emerged from the bathroom she looked surprised to see our car surrounded by police vehicles, but I was able to maneuver out of my predicament and we continued on to the dam.

At the dam visitor center we declined to pay $10 to park just to snap a photograph and continued across the dam (which is the old highway road) and parked in a free lot on the Arizona side of the dam. We hopped out of the car took a couple photos and then headed on for the final 30-minute trip to the Las Vegas strip.

On the couple occasions I previously visited the dam the water was nearly to the top of the dam. You can clearly see that the water levels have fallen to unbelievable lows and there is considerable worry in Nevada that unless they see a pretty good recovery that drastic rationing measures may soon be on the way.

The drive into Las Vegas was uneventful aided considerably by my OnStar navigation system.

The night view from our room

We pulled into the Treasure Island Resort and turned the car over to a valet and the luggage over to a bellman and before Joan had visited one slot machine we were $6 poorer. But it was worth not having to worry about the car or luggage as we couldn’t check into our room until 3 p.m. and it was barely past noon.

My friends Ed and Betty spend their winters in Las Vegas so they are pretty skilled at getting good deals and upgrades and Ed had already finagled a very nice room for us with a wonderful view of the Las Vegas strip. Originally we had a “mountain view” which is really a view of the parking garage. I guess “mountain view” is a euphemism in Las Vegas for a view of anything but the famous strip.

Daytime view

Because our room was not ready, we went to Ed and Betty’s suite on the 18^th floor and caught up on family and home. At 3 p.m. we turned on the Super Bowl and by halftime we were pretty much done watching that awful game.

Worst. Super Bowl. Ever.

We decided to beat the rush and headed by the overhead tram between Treasure Island and the Mirage for dinner at the Carnegie Diner inside The Mirage. Ed warned us about the size of the meals and the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich we ordered had to be at least 7-inches thick with at least ½-pound of bacon piled on a wedge of lettuce. You literally could not bite into both pieces of bread at the same time.

While we were eating we kept hearing the many Seahawks fans in the Mirage cheering with each new touchdown. I kind of felt sorry for the Bronco fans as they had very little, OK they had one touchdown, to cheer.

Joan enjoying herself

After the game we headed back to Treasure Island and Joan and Betty headed to the casino while Ed and I wandered around the resort until Gilley’s bar opened up. The ladies met us at the bar about 8:30 p.m., but when we learned Mickey Gilley was not playing that night, the ladies deserted us and went back to the casino.

Ed and I watched a few drunken cowboys and cowgirls get thrown off the mechanical bull and then we left the out table to a younger crowd.

Tried, Ed retired to his room and I to mine and the long wait began for Joan to return. She had a good night at the slots and we were actually a little ahead when she returned about 11 p.m. to the room.

The next morning I was up early so I could score a couple tickets to the Cirque Du Soleil performance of “Mystere” at the hotel theater for Monday night. I left the room forgetting to take my key so I hung around the casino floor watching people for an hour so I wouldn’t have to wake Joan to get back in the room.

Bad photo, but Me, Joan, Betty and Ed as we left

The night before Ed and I had walked around the casino floor watching folks playing blackjack and there was one disheveled guy playing at one table who kept giving Ed the evil eye and making comments. As I was walking around the floor about 7 a.m. Monday I saw the very same guy at the roulette table obviously having been up all night.

Joan let me into the room and after getting cleaned up we headed back to the casino floor where I met Ed and we went to a local Fry’s Electronics Store to look around. Although they have lots of electronics what we came home with was a bag to cook potatoes in a microwave oven that we found in the “As Seen on TV” section of the store.

I also picked up a new battery powered nose trimmer, which is a must for an old guy like me.

Terry, Susan, Joan and me at Sam's Town casino

The afternoon was quiet, but we met up with Ed and Betty for dinner at the Treasure Island Buffet before it was time for the show. Joan and I received a 2-for-1 buffet coupon when we checked in so it turned out to a reasonable dinner.

We had a pleasant dinner and we did some damage at several of the food stations, especially the dessert buffet.

After saying goodnight to Ed and Betty, Joan and I went to the theater and were almost immediately upgraded to lower bowl seats in the theater. Originally, we had tickets way back in the theater, but for reasons known only to the nice lady usher she picked us out for seats in about the 10^th row very close to the stage. I did slip her a little tip for her gesture.

The music and show was terrific. It is hard to describe the show, but it was a combination of incredible acts of strength, gymnastics, trapeze, special effects and wonderful original music.  So much was going on and above the stage there were many times you didn’t really know where to look or concentrate.

Lake Mead

A guy in a goofy tuxedo with Professor Corey hair provided some pre-show comic relief and a very large man dressed in a diaper and carrying a baby bottle provided in show comic relief most likely to give the large cast and crew time to set up for the next scene.

Too soon the show was over and Joan and spent a little time on the casino floor, but she outlasted me again and I returned to the room early. I’m not much of a gambler, but did manage to break even for the very little bit of gambling I did.

On Tuesday morning we met Ed and Betty in the casino to say our goodbyes and a nice man took a very bad and fuzzy photo of us which you will see here. I should have looked a little closer at the photo before I let the guy escape. Wherever he is now, I just want him to know that he is not a very good photographer even if I do appreciate his willingness to help us.

Another view of the low dam water

A valet retrieved our car (we carried our own bags down to save a few bucks) and then we headed to Sam’s Town Resort and Casino to visit with our friends Terry and Susan. A few years ago we spent several days with Terry and Susan in Albuquerque, New Mexico and have looked forward to seeing them again.

Not too long ago they were living in Belize, but have returned to the states. Next year we hope to spend more time with them and Ed and Betty in Vegas.

Terry and Susan treated us to breakfast and we had a lot of fun catching up on them and their children over a breakfast at the TGI Friday’s in the resort.

Sam’s is an old school resort, kind of like the Vegas I remember as a young man. Too soon our time was up and we began the long drive back to Tucson.

Temperatures in Nevada and Arizona have sagged to more normal and cooler temperatures for this time of year, but still 60s are pretty manageable considering what is going on back home in Michigan.

Heading home to Tucson over the dam

The trip home was fairly uneventful, but Joan makes it a habit to point out every “Watch Out for Animals” sign to reinforce her constant concerns over livestock in the road.

The only animal we saw on the trip home was a little dog that was running across the freeway and nearly hit by the car in front of us.

We stopped for gas in Kingman and that turned into quite the adventure in traffic. When we were there on Saturday there was barely any traffic, but today about noon it was like downtown Los Angeles.

We arrived back at the Voyager RV park, grabbed our mail and unpacked in our trailer.